Looky Loo

Curiosity Killed The Cat

November 28, 2006

(I know, for all you Americans it was probably even worse, but bear with me)

Twelve hours of travelling on Thursday, two days filled with family and announcements (I'll get to that later), and twelve hours of travelling on Sunday, with Mr. Cisco with the flu. Poor Mr. Cisco. We've slept and slept, ate junk food and watched TV today, trying to get back into the rhythm we'll have to keep in the next few weeks of work, and more work, before we go back to Portugal again in less than a month. (By work I mean PhD, finally getting the shops up, and Portuguese tutoring, which is fun but tiring at the same time)

We took the opportunity that we were seeing our families again (all the grandparents were surprised, only parents knew we were coming) to announce that Mr. Cisco finally decided to make an honest woman out of me, and proposed last week. There's still no date (sometime in the Spring), no place (somewhere by the sea) and no ring (when we somehow have money - I found the perfect one, but it's £700, which makes it impossible. Sniff.) Our families didn't seem surprised at all (we have been living together for 6 years now, after all), but all our friends did, especially the ones I asked to be my Godparents (sort of like Best Man and Maid of Honour, except both Groom and Bride have both). I think it's because we're all 14 in our heads, and certainly not at an age to get marry. I still do! Even Cisco has to be constantly reminded of what number comes after 2 when he's asked for his age (he's apparently stuck at 22, which, I guess, is a good age as any).

We want something very small, and not religious. It'll only be Parents, Grandparents, Brothers and Friends, which are the really important people in our lives. (if we added uncles, aunts and cousins, Cisco's side would swell by 17). So, around 25 people. That won't provide a very big buffer between Mother and Father, but they'll just have to behave (Mother has already told me she'll bring a knife in her garter, which sort of indicates how much she likes her ex.) Even with such a tiny wedding there's a lot of stuff to take care of, which we'll have to do over the Christmas period.

Of course, what Cisco is really excited about is the honeymoon and the stag/hen night (we're having both together.) Ever since he's been to Aswan with his parents he wanted to go back there, and so he's taking me! The Old Cataract hotel seems truly magnificent, and as an avid Agatha Christie fan I'm very happy to spend my honeymoon there.

I'm very happy in general, if tired today. Thanks to all the ladies that left comments! I have a busy week ahead of me, but I really hope I will be able to take the damn photographs once and for all. I've also discovered french knitting, thanks to the lovely Carolyn. I have a few ideas of what to do with it, but does anybody know of a good resource about this?

November 22, 2006

I have to say, I don't mean to offend anyone with this post. It's just that the anti-conformist in me is tired of keeping silent about something that has been bothering me for a while. I know for a fact I'm not the only one - I've gotten comments that show otherwise - but still, this is apparently not very talked about.

In all the top crafting/lifestyle blogs (links on the right), everybody has a perfect life. Everyone is Martha Stewart before the prison sentence, everybody has a lovely house and an even lovelier family, and even problems are recounted as being "nothing", and the next post usually apologises for the previous complaining.

What's going on? Because I don't buy one minute of it.

Why are we all under so much damn pressure to only show the sunny side up of our lives when we blog? Why is everything so damn aspirational? I left a pretty bitter comment to poor Yarnstorm who didn't deserve it, only because she was revelling in some English nostalgia and pride that I never understood, and don't think I ever will, since Britain for me is, and has been since I moved here, very different from the tweed and tea image that everyone, especially Americans, seem to have.

When I started reading all these blogs, they made feel better, because they make you feel that, yes, you too can have a perfect life! And these really are beautiful, interesting women, who write incredibly well, and live nice and fulfilling lives. But it bothers me this feeling that I'm sure it's not that great all the time, and that they are finding themselves in a position where all their readers are expecting the gorgeous corners of their homes, or their last quiche, or so forth, and they indulge them, even if they're feeling like crap, and, want, in fact, to blog about that.

As I have around 10 readers, I moan, and bitch, and complain, but even I started feeling the pressure last week to blog about pleasant things only, because if I did that maybe Andorinha would be more popular, and being popular is good.

But is it?

It's the same with something that I had written about before, and had left in a comment over at pomegranatesandpaper - how I'm sure that artists, crafters, writers, etc, are all secretly terrified that someone will have the same idea that they had, and is going to do it better. Yet you never, ever hear anyone talking about this. Why?

In both cases, it's like it's a secret that people have bad moods, or insecurities, or problems. "I'm slightly depressed this morning, but no one must ever know!"

I'm aware I just antagonised, oh... 80% of my readers, but still...can someone tell me if I'm alone in this?

November 19, 2006

Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of spending the day with my very old friend Karen that I've known since I was 12 (so, 14 years, which is..scary). She's been living in Manchester for a while now, and, for some reason or another, I lost touch with her. I'm definitely amending that mistake now. She is a lovely, lovely person (the text on the website is silly and not really that representative of who she is), and I missed her, and our times in school.

Also, today we got the surprise that we're spending the next weekend in Portugal. Happy, happy Vanda! We're going to celebrate Cisco's Grandmother's 80th Birthday, flying from Manchester on Thursday and returning on Sunday. It'll be a very short visit, and Thursday will be pretty awful (we're getting a plane to Faro, then getting on a bus for fours hours to get to Lisbon), but the storm currently raging over Manchester makes that seem very unimportant right now. I'm taking Sonya with me on my bag (my very tiny VAIO), our DVD series, and my graphic, pixel-by-pixel work to be done for the Men's T-shirts for Paraphernalia. That will probably wile away the hours nicely.

I hope that when I come back I can finally upload a number of things for Etsy, and officially open Paraphernalia as well. I also have to post the ornaments of the swap before I go, but they're all finished and ready to go.

November 16, 2006

I decided to set aside Luna Parc for a couple of days. I don't know if this happens to you, but if I look at my own projects for too long I get very, very sick of them, think they're horrible, and want to throw down the towel (and the projects out the window).

If I refuse to give them any more attention and head space for some time, coming back to them I start to see why I created them in the first place, and that they are not all that bad.

So, I took a break from the handcrafted stuff (Xmas ornaments are almost done anyway, and should be in the post by the beginning of next week) and turned to design, something I really missed doing.

Paraphernalia is easy because I'm not worrying about taking 40 photos with half an hour of good light, that that stitch is slightly crooked (or not so slightly, really), that the glue isn't gluing anything but my fingers, etc. It's clean, not messy, and I can smoke a cigarette once in a while (sorry Maman).

I've opened shops both at Prickie and Cafe Press (I know, I know, but they now have a better printing method and I didn't feel like messing about with vectors to open a shop in a "cooler" t-shirt provider.) I'm still in the process of tweaking them and adding products, but I'll unveil paraphernalia.nu soon enough.

It's odd that I have two very, very different styles, and, as such, two very different target audiences for my designs. It's also nothing short of exhausting to try and market two very different blogs, shops, products. But I know myself, and I know that this is the best way to keep myself happy and not stifle any creativity that I actually have. The truth is that I love both indie design and handmade craftiness, and that I read with awe both We Made This and Posie Gets Cozy. So, two brands does make sense, even if it implies more marketing work.

Anyway, Paraphernalia has a lot of vintage illustrations and victorian designs, besides the Pass It On buttons, an idea I had when walking to the supermarket the other day. I like that idea. I think it may deserve a more distinctive design, but I think I'll get to that later. In the meantime, I have a lot of ideas for more t-shirts, and will start updating the blog and creating more Anatomica jewellery for the Etsy shop.

I'm also very tempted to hold off opening the Luna Parc shop and just updating it's Etsy, now that is all pretty. Humm.

November 14, 2006

Today is one of those days. Those days when I'm sick of the rain, sick of the greyness of Manchester. And when it's one of those days, I can't help but feel very, very homesick.

This photo (which isn't mine) is of the beach, 10 minutes from my house, 5 minutes from my favourite café (of which I must take a photo during the Christmas holidays; it's beautiful, right on the cliff, facing the sea and the coastline). The Paredão (a raised wall, I guess), full of cafes and restaurants, snakes along the coastline from S. João to Cascais, through Estoril.

This will always be a special area for me. It was the refuge of the rich and royal during the 2nd world war, so it's filled with grand villas and hotels, many with secret passages to the beach and whispers of ghosts and hauntings. The Casino is still the biggest in Europe, and it's where Fleming got inspired to write Casino Royale, the first of the Bond books. Remember Casablanca, when she is flying to Lisbon in the end? Estoril would be where she would stay, full of spies, playboys and kings. (although under a fascist government at the time, Portugal remained neutral during the war - Salazar thought that both Hitler and Mussolini were idiots and of very little intelligence - and it was a lot sunnier and agreeable than Switzerland)

Living so close to it, the sea was always a part of my life. I never particularly liked the beach in Summer, not since I stopped being a child. But in the Winter, the Paredão is beautiful as well, and was all mine. The sea's beauty is not affected by the colour of the skies; I love it both when it's cloudy and when it's blue. I still love to go and get a cappuccino or a hot chocolate on a winter's day, staring at the waves.

I guess that's what I miss the most, here - having somewhere to go. There's always that café or this café, that part of Lisbon or this part of Cascais. I understand why teenagers in this country get into trouble - in so many places in Britain, the only place to hang out is the Bus stop or the Convenience store. That depresses me so much. I want to go places, and have the motivation to do so. But when it's night come 4h30 and it's been raining all day, I don't. And I get homesick, and miss friends, and family, and the sea. Like today. I'm a month away and I'm counting the days.

November 12, 2006

I have noticed lately that when something is on my mind, I'll usually find it's on someone else's mind as well, and will make an appearance on one of the blogs I read daily.

In this case, I found it here today, in Lisa Congdon's beauty of a blog. I left a reply, but I'd like to write more about it; I seem to spam people's e-mails with too long comments quite a lot!

The beauty and appeal of abandoned things is, I think, the same appeal that a lot of vintage things have to most people. It just takes it a little bit further, and it's not as immediately pretty, or cute, or attractive.

Abandoned things always have
something evocative about them, I think - maybe that's why places like
Venice are so popular. Make us think of who owned the objects, who
lived in the houses, of lives that no one remembers any more.

I live in a small private road, and on the other side of it, in
front of my house, there is a small complex of sheltered housing. When
someone dies (and this happens often), the caretaker simply piles up
all the things that the family and the charity shop didn't want out on
the street. This happened yesterday. There were old chairs and furniture, paintings, a velvet box, a little vase with plastic plants. Everything was already somewhat ruined by the rain that had been falling all day. Thrift shops are picky - they won't take anything that has even the slightest damage. No old sofas because they don't meet fire regulations, no old prints because they look faded. So the last everyday possessions of the elderly get piled out on the street, waiting for the garbage truck.

Sometimes it is just tat; sometimes, like the antique sewing machine
with the thread still in the needle, it's heartbreaking. I had to take
it home with me.

That happened a couple of months ago, in the Summer. Me and Cisco were going shopping in Didsbury, and he had gone back up the stairs to fetch the cellphone he had forgotten. Right in front of our house was a nondescript wooden cupboard, that had obviously seen better days. One of the doors was slightly ajar, and as I peeked inside I could see a black iron curlicue. By playing with the top, I found a beautiful antique sewing machine, with gold and red decoration, and inside the cupboard was its table and pedal. It still worked, and, as I've said, it still had thread on the needle.

I finally managed to get it home after shopping, with the help of my lovely neighbour Lisa, with whom I broke away the old wood chip to reveal it in all it's glory. Cisco carried it up; it's still waiting for a bigger house to be displayed as it deserves. It's the one int the picture.

I've always been fascinated by the idea of antique and bric-a-brac shops. When I was little I would write short stories about these stores, describing in detail what was on the shelves, where the things had come from, who used to own them. There were magicians implements, and old charts from long dead sea Captains, love letters that were turning to dust, and boxes from China that no one could open.

I think this still translates into what I design. I still use a lot of ephemera - children's scraps, trading cards, old postcards - because I still love things that have a sense of history, things that were handed down, or played with, or collected, or loved, before they got to me.

I like working with little treasures.

My favourite house is still in Cascais, a grand villa that has a tree growing inside it, and no roof.

November 11, 2006

Finally finished the Folclore collection, at least for now. There are six hearts so far; I'll see how they do, and take it from there.

I've been feeling so "blah" about everything that I didn't even bother to post here yesterday. I don't know why, I got excellent news only two days ago so I should still be riding that feeling.

To be honest, I think I know why - SAD is starting to kick in, which means I have to take my lightbox out of storage. God knows where it is now. The weather yesterday and today was so awful that hardly any light was visible, even during the day, and then, of course, it was already night come 4 p.m. I hate this. Really, really hate this. I have absolutely no motivation to do what I need, which is to finish the ornaments for the swap, write up a new skeleton for my PhD, wash the dishes to start making more chicken croquettes, and make a template in PDF format. I just feel like curling up on the sofa, and watching Gilmore Girls.

November 09, 2006

I'm still doing a happy dance (well, mostly on the inside, I got a bit tired after having done it on the outside for a while). This will mean I won't need a job while doing my PhD, and will be able to carry on with the crafting of crafty things.

So, Huzzah!

Got the list for the Holiday Swap, and am still thinking of what I'm going to do. I mean, I know what I'm going to do, just not sure about the materials. I really wanted to try some wool felting as well, but it seems I can only find wool mixes at the thrift shop. When I went in and asked if I could buy already shrunken jumpers people would give in they told me no, and that they go to developing nations. So that's that.

I've decided I won't care too much anymore about the popularity of this blog. A sort of "blog like no one's reading" philosophy, I guess. I've added Andorinha to some directories, and now I'll focus on more creative things. Comments would be nice, though. Yes, yes they would.

November 07, 2006

My boys: Cisco and Crowley. They both give me white hairs and a lot of happiness at the same time. That's what boys are for, right?

Cisco and I realized yesterday that we had very different ideas about what Paraphernalia should be about. Understanding that I have trouble handing out complete creative control and that having ideas is the only thing I think I'm ever remotely good at, he stepped down, very graciously, like the amazing man that he is. He is truly a fantastic person to have in my life, and to love.

I hope to have both shops up and running within the week (Paraphernalia will be sold through Etsy, Prickie and Spreadshirt).

The Silhouette collection is almost ready, and I made two more embroidered brooches yesterday. I'm almost there! I'm taking photos of everything on Thursday to finally complete the shop.

On another news, tomorrow will probably be the day that I'll find out if I get a scholarship or not. Cross your fingers for me. Please?

November 06, 2006

The brooch on the back belongs to a collection I'm working one called Folclore - it's based on traditional Portuguese shapes with a little bit of rustic embroidery and big, shiny buttons. I quite like it! There's four hearts made so far, and I hope to have at least six until I open the shop. I quite enjoy making these as well, which is good. No noxious paint fumes at least (today I've also been finishing the Silhouette collection).

I still have Apple brooches to make, and a lot of things to glue. See you tomorrow!